Thousand Oaks : City Delays Hearing on Housing Project

The Thousand Oaks City Council will postpone consideration of a hotly debated housing project in Newbury Park until September, city planners announced Monday.

The public hearing on the 94-unit development proposed by Raznick & Sons Inc. of Woodland Hills will be postponed from July 27 until mid-September, after the council’s summer recess.

In the interim, the planning staff will evaluate a revised proposal submitted by Raznick & Sons last week. The modifications would eliminate two homes and expand lot sizes to enhance compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood.

Aaron Raznick, president of the development company, said Monday he is “never happy about delays.” But Raznick Vice President Ellen Michiel, who has handled the case, last week said she would be willing to wait. “We want a project approved, not a deadline met,” Michiel said.

The Planning Commission has already approved the project, on a 44-acre parcel just west of the intersection of Lynn and Reino roads. But the City Council, bowing to the wishes of almost 600 Newbury Park residents who signed a petition of protest, agreed to reconsider the case.